August 6, 2003
Grammy-winner wows crowd
Barbara Bailey Hutchinson performs at Summer Stories and Songs
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Captivating her audience with charm, humor and beautiful voice, singer Barbara Bailey Hutchinson had them dancing and singing in the aisles Saturday at the Traverse Area District Library.
The Grammy-award-winning performer entertained an audience of more than 60 children and adults as part of the Summer Stories and Songs 2003 program. This program features a weekly free performance that is geared to the whole family. Previous acts have included juggling, magic and storytelling.
Hutchinson serenaded the assembled with songs about topics ranging from potatoes and rain to cars, books and Barbie dolls. Group songs with movement kept her young audience engaged as Hutchinson invited them up to help her sing several different numbers. The room resonated with rain during an interactive song that mimicked an approaching downpour while during other songs she prompted the audience to chime in loudly.
"Come on," she encouraged the crowd. "This is the only time you'll be allowed to yell in the library."
One song geared to parents lamented that daughters of feminists always want to wear pink, play with Barbie dolls and cook. The lyrics were greeted with uproarious laughter by most mothers there.
The Detroit area native now lives in Nashville and is a veteran singer and songwriter. She travels the country performing, mostly in the eastern half of the United States, and also has a variety of compact discs to her credit. Her favorite is a compilation of lullabies, which include some original compositions as well as classic tunes.
Hutchinson welcomes the chance to entertain young children in a library setting.
"The environment is one of the things I enjoy," Hutchinson noted. "The kids are so willing to participate, to sing and dance and get involved."
"Kids at the library, even older ones, like to get involved," she added.
One facet of her career that gives her voice nationwide recognition is singing the jingles of more than 100 commercials, including McDonald's, Sears and Hallmark. Hutchinson teased the crowd with lines from some of the best-known ones.
This is the tenth year of the Summer Stories and Songs program. Organizers formally moved the program indoors this year after rain week after week kept them scrambling. The theme, however, has not changed: provide high-quality entertainment for the whole family.
"In the summer, we try to get professional children's entertainers for family entertainment and offer it to the community," said Barbara Nowinski, assistant director of the Traverse Area District Library. "It's been fantastic attendance this year, we had 175 people last week for Kevin Devine and the librarians there said they never heard the crowd so uproarious."
Funding for this year's events is provided by the Traverse Area Arts Council and the Michigan Council for Art and Cultural Affairs.
With summer not yet over, Nowinski is already looking ahead to next year.
"I've already got three or four acts booked or almost booked for next year," she said, noting some ideas come from member libraries or other libraries. "There's so many good talented people out there"
The final performance of Summer Stories and Songs will feature the Acting Up Theater Company at 11 a.m. this Saturday at the library's facility on Woodmere Avenue. The hour-long event is free and open to the public.